tegus

See also: Tegus and tégus

English

Noun

tegus

1. plural of tegu

Anagrams

• Guest, guest

Esperanto

Verb

tegus

1. conditional of tegi

Latin

Etymology

Archaic alternative form of tergus n (“back; hide”). Possibly originally a distinct word that became blended with tergum. Alternatively, if tergus was original, tegus, tegor- might be a by-form derived by dissimilative loss of the first /r/ in tergor-.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈte.ɡus/, [ˈt̪ɛɡʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈte.ɡus/, [ˈt̪ɛːɡus]

Noun

tegus n (genitive tegoris); third declension

1. carcass; the back or trunk of an animal
   • c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 902, (trochaic septenarius):

     Di i͞mmo͞rtālēs, iam ŭt ĕgō̆ co͞llōs pra͞etru͞ncābō tĕgŏrĭbus,
     quanta pernis pestis veniet, quanta labes larido,
     quanta sumini absumedo, quanta callo calamitas,
     quanta laniis lassitudo, quanta porcinariis.

     • 2011 translation by Wolfgang de Melo

       Immortal gods, how I will chop the necks off the backs in a moment! What havoc will fall on the ham, what loss on the lard, what utter consumption on the udder, what misfortune on the meat, what sleepiness on the slaughterers and pork-butchers!

   • c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 915, (iambic octonarius):

     Adveniens deturbavit totum cum carne carnarium:
     a͞rrĭpŭi͞t glădĭu͞m, pra͞etru͞ncāvi͞t trĭbŭs tē̆gŏrĭbū̆s gla͞ndĭa;
     aulas calicesque omnes confregit, nisi quae modiales erant.

     • 2011 translation by Wolfgang de Melo

       When he arrived he threw down the whole meat stand with the meat. He grabbed a sword and chopped the sweet-breads off three meat-joints. He smashed all pots and dishes to pieces, except those that were bucket-sized.

   • c. 191 BCE, Plautus, Pseudolus 198, (trochaic octonarius):

     Aeschrodora, tu quae amicos tibi habes lenonum aemulos
     lanios, qui, item ut nos iurando, iure malo male quaerunt rem, audi:
     nĭsĭ ca͞rnārĭă trĭă grăvĭdă tegŏrĭbŭs ŏnĕre ūbĕri hŏdĭē
     mihi erunt, cras te quasi Dircam olim, ut memorant, duo gnati Iovis
     devinxere ad taurum, item ego te distringam ad carnarium;
     id tibi profecto taurus fiet.

     • 2012 translation by Wolfgang de Melo.

       Aeschrodora, you who have the butchers, the pimps’ rivals, as boyfriends, who just like us acquire money in a nasty way through perjury, listen: unless I have three meat racks heavy with carcasses of large size today, I’ll tie you to a meat rack tomorrow, the way they say the two sons of Jupiter once bound Dirce onto a bull. This will become the bull for you.

   • 116 BCE – 27 BCE, Marcus Terentius Varro, De Lingua Latina 5.110:

     tegus suis ab eo quod eo tegitur. perna a pede. sueris a nomine eius. offula ab offa, minima suere.

   • Flavius Caper, De Orthographia 99.2:

     Terga hominis tantum, singulariter tergum facit. quadrupedum erit tergus, pluraliter tergora, id est coria. tegus quoque invenio dici et esse eius plurale tegora.

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	tegus	tegora
genitive	tegoris	tegorum
dative	tegorī	tegoribus
accusative	tegus	tegora
ablative	tegore	tegoribus
vocative	tegus	tegora

Further reading

• tegus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• tegus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.